Ireland: Israel is overreacting on Varadkar
On Monday, Irish Education Minister Simon Harris claimed that Israel's choice to call in the Irish ambassador in response to remarks made by Prime Minister Leo Varadkar was excessive.
During the weekend, Varadkar caused anger in Israel for his use of a religious quote from the Parable of the Prodigal Son in the Bible. The quote, "was dead, and is alive ... was lost, and is found", was used to celebrate the release of Emily Hand, a young girl aged 9 who was kidnapped by Hamas, a Palestinian militant group, and has both Irish and Israeli citizenship.
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen criticized the blog post and the words chosen by the prime minister, accusing Varadkar of attempting to make terrorism seem acceptable. These comments were also repeated by Eylon Levy, a spokesperson for the Israeli government.
The author of a series of tweets, Levy, made fun of Dublin's comprehension of the matter, saying that Ireland's contribution was limited to praying for a little girl who went missing while taking a walk in a forest and was later found by a helpful hiker. However, this description omits the fact that the girl was not taken by violent attackers who killed her neighbors.
Later on, Cohen made an announcement that he intended to call upon the Irish envoy to Israel "to give him a rebuke."
However, Harris supported Varadkar's statement on Monday by asserting that the prime minister makes a point to denounce terrorism on a daily basis. Moreover, Harris emphasized that Varadkar's statement was unambiguous and direct.
I don't want to create any controversy, but I believe that the taoiseach's statement is self-explanatory," he said during an interview with RTÉ.
In the past few days, Israel opted to call for multiple ambassadors from several European nations to attend a meeting. They have the right to do so, but in my opinion, it seems like an excessive response.
Simon Coveney, Ireland's Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, supported Varadkar by expressing his opinion that Israel's response was unjust.
Coveney told RTÉ that there seems to be a belief in Israel that Ireland has taken a biased stance on one aspect of the debate, which could be the reason the Israeli foreign minister reacted vehemently. He believes it isn't justifiable, especially given the taoiseach's stance on the ongoing conflict.
The Irish Ambassador to Israel, Sonya McGuinness, had a meeting with the Deputy Director General for Europe, Daniel Meron, on Monday. The meeting took place at the foreign ministry located in Jerusalem, as shared by the Irish foreign affairs department. McGuinness presented Varadkar's complete statement, which was posted by the Prime Minister after receiving negative responses.
The statement indicated that McGuinness was surprised by the Israeli Government's public criticism of the Irish Government's apparent relief at Emily's release.
